Opinion Editorials, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
A Drop in the Bucket
Arab News
28 November 2003
Washington’s decision to cut loan guarantees to Israel by some $290 million is supposed to send a symbolic message to Israel about American opposition to its settlements policy and the wall being built in the West Bank.
It will do no such thing. It will not stop a single streetlight in the settlements being erected; it will not stop a centimeter of the wall being built.
Washington may view the move and President Bush’s seemingly strong speech last week in London against settlements and the barrier as important gestures. Along with a first meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei and a US official, it probably hopes that they will be seen as evidence of new moves to reactivate the stalled Middle East road map. But the Israelis are laughing about it all the way to the bank.
They know a meaningless gesture when they see one. A cut of $290 million out of a $9 billion package of loan guarantees is just over 3 percent — a drop in the bucket.
It is not going to affect Israel’s abilities to raise loans from foreign banks one little bit. There will be plenty of rich Jewish and pro-Israeli Americans willing to guarantee the difference, knowing full well that it is not going to cost them a cent because Israel has never defaulted on any of its loans.
Because they know that this is an empty symbol, the Israelis can make the ludicrous, contemptuous claim that they even thought up the idea themselves. It is why they can respond with a defiant promise to build even more settlements.
This is not the first time that guarantees have been cut. It is not the first time that settlements have been condemned. The US has criticized Israeli’s settlement policies for years; the president’s father suspended Israel’s loan guarantees for that very reason in 1991. It made no difference then — the settlements continued — and it will make no difference now. There is going to be no shift in US policy.
Had it been hard cash, that might have been different. But Washington’s direct aid to Israel — about $3 billion a year — has not been touched. Nor is it going to be touched. The harsh reality for Palestinians and enduring comfort for Israelis is that the US will never, never let Israel be starved of cash for its survival. The US may occasionally shack its finger at it, but its support will remain rock solid no matter how many settlements are built.
If a UN resolution were tabled tomorrow condemning the settlements and the barrier, Washington would veto it. The Israelis know it. The Palestinians know it. We all know it.
The US is Israel’s permanent protector, no matter how many settlements it builds.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03). |
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